


birds of a feather

by grancenturio



Series: neverland [1]
Category: The Caligula Effect (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 09:23:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14912726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grancenturio/pseuds/grancenturio
Summary: Ritsu returns home, and then leaves again.





	birds of a feather

**Author's Note:**

> thanks caligula discord for feeding my kenritsu postcanon hcs

Some things, Ritsu thought resignedly, just didn’t change no matter how much the rest of the world did.

Take his parents, for example. They were, at this moment, red in the face from yelling at him, the exact same way they’d done for the past seventeen years. The exact same way they’d done every time he’d brought home a test paper with anything less than a full score, or tried to tell them that he wanted to skip his extracurricular activities for that day to hang out with his friends.

Well then, he thought bemusedly, it was a good thing he’d changed instead.

“Mom, Dad,” he interrupted smoothly when they paused to catch their breaths. “This is my decision. I’ve already made up my mind, and I’m not going to change it.”

Predictably, they only launched into another round of tirades. How dare he be ungrateful towards them for raising him? They only wanted the best for him! He needed their help to make sure he didn’t screw up the rest of his life! It would have been scary months ago when they’d made up the entirety of his life; now, with the experience of having to _fight to save all of reality_ from an insane musician under his belt, it came off as rather pathetic in comparison.

Ritsu did not yell back, but only because he needed his hearing intact if he was to continue making music. “Mom. Dad. _Listen to me_. I’ve already submitted my application and gotten the acceptance letter. I’ve found an apartment in Shibuya near the school, and I’ll be moving there until I finish my studies.” Admittedly, by _apartment_ he meant _Kotono’s couch, in return for helping her watch Takkun_ , but they didn’t really need to know that. “Thanks for keeping me on track up until now, but I’m going my own way from here on.”

And with that, he cheerfully dropped the torn up pieces of his college application forms into the wastebin, hefted his bag onto his shoulder, and opened the front door to leave.

* * *

 

**A week later.**

Ritsu suppressed a yawn, and tried not to look too bored. The music school he’d picked out was an average one of no particular name; the perfect place for him to slowly learn the fundamentals of music while he tried to regain the instincts that had allowed him to make waves as Lucid. Sure, it had mostly been μ’s power writing the music for him in Mobius, but there was no reason time and effort couldn’t replicate it here.

“...so that’s about all the rules,” the older student addressing them finished. Minamide, or whatever her name was. “Ah, since you’re all new, we’ll be pairing you up with older students who’ve volunteered to show you around the school for the first week or so! They’re coming in now.”

His stupor finally coming to an end, Ritsu turned to look at the students filing into the hall— _wait_. That one student looked suspiciously like Kensuke, but older— oh. _Oh_.

Said student, for his part, seemed to have already spotted Ritsu, and was giving him a cheerful wave as he walked in. _I look the same both in and out of Mobius, so that’s not surprising, I guess_.

“Alright,” Minamide continued, clapping her hands together, “each of you pick a partner and introduce yourself now.”

Kensuke, predictably, made a beeline for Ritsu. _Still the same brat, I see._

“Shikishima Ritsu,” he offered. A formality, really, but one he should probably follow.

“I’m Hibiki Kensuke!” Kensuke replied cheerfully, grabbing his hand that he had definitely _not held out for a handshake_ and shaking it vigorously. “Nice to meet you, Shikishima-senpai!”

There was a long pause, during which every single student in the hall turned to look at Ritsu. Or at least, that was what it felt like, even if it was really just the one or two closest to him.

“...senpai?” the fellow new student next to him asked, her eyebrow raising slightly.

“Um,” he tried to explain, fumbling for an excuse. Kensuke’s smile only seemed to widen in response.  _Brat_ , Ritsu mouthed at him.

Kensuke dared to  _laugh_ at him in reply.

Ritsu sighed, gave up, and tried to will away what was probably going to be the start of a very persistent headache.

**Author's Note:**

> [join us in screaming about kenritsu on discord](https://discord.gg/sapKVjd)


End file.
